My review of the Jewel's 16-night WB Panama Canal cruise, Jan. 20-Feb. 5, 2017

Turtles06. I read your reviews of your ship experiences. We are not on the Jewel but a HAL cruise. Since you have such detailed information, I was wondering how to access your reviews of the different ports, what you did, what you would recommend, not recommend, etc. I am not positive if you saw my first post but we are seeing Puerto Vallerta, Huatulco, Mexico; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Corinto, Nicarugua, Puerto Calders [Puntarenas], Costa Rica; Panama Canal [no excursion offered by HAL]. Don't know what your itinerary was but you may have been to some or all of these. Any help/advice you can give me. We will be on cruise in December. TIA

We visited all the ports you listed (in Costa Rica we docked in Puntarenas, which is very close to Puerto Caldera). If you go back through this thread (or do a search by port name), you will see that I have very detailed posts about each of the ports we visited and what we did there.

Unfortunately, for the reasons discussed in the comment above, you will no longer be able to see my photos, thanks to Photobucket. (If you have a particular interest in any of them, please let me know, and I will try to repost them from Shutterfly.) Since I'm here though, I'l leave you with a white-faced monkey and scarlet macaw (in the wild) in Costa Rica:

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If you have further questions about the ports, just let me know.

Have a great cruise!

(photos by turtles06)

Thanks Turtles for the wonderful review !

I will be doing a 21 day New Orleans to Seattle Panama Canal cruise in April 2018 , and am looking forward to the trip to much !

Please keep updating photos as you have time on your new posts on this thread.

I will be traveling with my wife and 7 year old twins (Son & Daughter) , the kids are getting real good at swimming so will be getting them their first snorkel sets before the cruise, so we can all snorkel together at some of the stops. We are the active type and love hiking, walking, snorkeling , biking etc.

I have a good idea of what I want to do before the ship goes into the canal (on Cozumel, Roatan Island, Belize, Cartagena) but am a bit fuzzy on the Pacific ports as of yet.

From your description we will have great busy full days in Costa Rica and Guatemala .

In Corinto Nicaragua , as I have not yet discovered as much interesting to see nearby , perhaps someone knows if there is a good beach or snorkeling area we can go to for the day ?

Thanks for the great review. We are doing a similar cruise this year on the Pearl do you know if we will need to exchange our US money for an local money in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Columbia, or Guatemala?

Did the cruise in December 2017 on HAL and you do NOT have to exchange any currency. EVERYONE, even the vendors love to take US$$. We did Antigua in Nicaragua and it was NOT a good excursion and definitely not one for small children. If your itinerary takes you to Costa Rica, I think the two young children would LOVE Jose's Crocodile tour and the bird viewing there plus there is a monkey farm nearby that our shared tour guide took us to private monkey preserve where the monkeys live in the wild and when the owner calls them, they come and consume banana pieces out of your hand. The baby monkeys are so cute. They ride on their mama's back and reach out for the banana just like their mom. Our shared tour had 8 people and the cost was $60US per person....and worth it. If you get to Cartegna, we loved our shared private excursion but I know that the kids would love the parrot/monkey and small zoo right there at port that you can walk through and get up close to the animals and if is FREE.

We did Antigua in Nicaragua and it was NOT a good excursion

Which tour did you do?

HAVANA CUBA--

PANAMA CANAL & PANAMA CITY

JAN 2018

Dr.Joe

If you are asking about Nicaragua, we did the Antigua on our Own sponsored by HAL. Our bus guide was AWEFUL. She forgot the maps and she did not give us any instructions, she just took us to the central place where we were encouraged to hire a private guide to take us around. IF I had wanted to pay to have a guide, I'd have gotten on the tour that HAL sponsored with a guide. I had done extensive research on Antigua and knew what I wanted to see. I did find a map but it did not show me the places I wanted to see so we were lost and spent the time wandering around. The bus ride to and from the ship was fine but she didn't point out any points of interest, tell us about the flora or what was growing in the fields. As a matter of fact, I didn't hear anyone say that they had a good experience. Perhaps your cruise line will provide you with better service. As I said before, would not recommend Antigua for children or even anyone under 25. There was one shining positve, however, we ate at a wonderful restaurant called La Tiempo just outside the large yellow arch. Pleasant, quiet eating and great, interesting food served in a most unusual way.

AryMay. We did Dora de Explorer in Columbia and it was wonderful. Great guide, not crowded and got a wonderful tour through the city by a woman, Mercedes, who was a teacher who immigrated from Europe during the Hitler era. She seemed to know all the vendors and merchants, some of whom had been her students. She kept us from being bothered by the roving people begging us to buy their wares. One thing is that they don't have 'made in XXX' anywhere in Columbia. All products are made in the country.

Thanks for the great review. We are doing a similar cruise this year on the Pearl do you know if we will need to exchange our US money for an local money in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Columbia, or Guatemala?

I'm the OP. I was surprised to see my thread resurrected today; thank you for the kind words!

The only local currency we took with us was Mexican pesos, and even there, we probably could have gotten by only with USD. We did not need local currency in Costa Rica, Nicaragua. ColOmbia, or Guatemala.

Re another item discussed above (and for folks who haven't read the entire thread): in Guatemala, we took NCL's Antigua on Your Own tour, and it was fine. While we knew we'd be given a map, we downloaded one from the internet and brought it with us.

Since Shutterfly has cut off access to the photos I posted originally, here are a few from Antigua:

(photos by turtles06)

Mea Culpa. :o I was wrong about the country when talking about Antigua. It was in fact, as the OP said, in Guatemala...not Nicaragua. I am not wrong about the review of the tour in Antigua. I had brought along my map from the internet but I wanted the hostess to show me on the map I provided, where the sights were that I especially wanted to see; she would not and disappeared. I was able to glean some information from other visitors. The picture shown are similar to the ones that we took. Again, HAL advertised the trip as the hostess would give us a map and would explain where various places were; she did not. I did report it to HAL and they responded that they would look into it. I also know that other people on our bus complained to her at the time.

I was the one inquiring about the Antigua tours...

I had read through your wonderful review before, but was so surprised (and excited) to find out I could now view all of your photos today! (Did you realize this??) The photos are absolutely stunning and add so much to the review.

I read the review with even more interest this time because we are booked on a HAL Panama Canal cruise that visits many of the same ports in April. Perhaps you can comment or give some opinions on what to do?

Normally I avoid ship excursions, but this time we have an abundance of non-refundable OBC so we will be spending it on tours. Do you remember the name of your tour in Corinto? Here are the ones that HAL has available. As you can see they are all very similar but thinking perhaps we should avoid the one you did! ;)

Since we are also planning on doing the "Antigua on Your Own" excursion through the ship I was interested in your opinion of the app "GPS My City" that you mentioned. I have already downloaded the app onto my phone, but not yet paid for the Antigua map. I know there are several different "tours" and I'm not sure which one(s) to get.

We used a great GPS driven app when we were in Hawaii (Gypsy Guide) and I am hoping this app is similar. I haven't spent much time looking at it, but wondered if it gives you an audio tour that is triggered by GPS locations as you walk?

I am puzzled by what to do in Puerto Chiapas...or maybe not do anything after reading your review. We aren't really into ruins. The ship tour that we are considering is "Banana Plantation & Rural Community". There is also one called "Mayan Tree of Life & Chocolate Discovery" that I might consider. Puerto Chiapas is the 4th port in a string of 5 consecutive days so maybe doing nothing isn't a bad plan!

I had already decided Hualtulco might be a DIY port and your beach day sounds lovely.

I know it wasn't on your itinerary, but Manzanillo is one more port where we don't really have a plan. (But maybe someone else reading this might have ideas?) I think we may just walk around on our own. There is an iguana sanctuary not too far from the port that we might try and find. Not sure about the safety here though so will wait and see for sure.

Cabo San Lucas is the last unplanned port...or at least for me. My DH wants to scuba dive so I will find something else to do once we get there.

This will be our longest cruise to date (23 days) and has TWELVE ports! Besides the ones I mentioned already we are also visiting Curacao, Puerto Caldera (Puntarenas), Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, San Francisco, Vancouver and finally ending in Seattle.

Thanks for any suggestions or opinions you can give. And a big THANKS for the wonderful review!

Great review and pictures. We loved our cruise on the Jewel a couple years ago. My husband is interested in Panama and I'm leaning more towards Barcelona in December. We will be traveling with our 4 girls and are trying to decide what would be best for them. We know that you can't expect a lot of kids on a longer cruise but am curious as to how many were on yours. We are trying to decide between the cruise from Tampa to Panama, or the Spirt in Barcelona in December. Thank you.

I was the one inquiring about the Antigua tours...

 

I had read through your wonderful review before, but was so surprised (and excited) to find out I could now view all of your photos today! (Did you realize this??) The photos are absolutely stunning and add so much to the review. . . .

First, thanks so much for reading the review and for all the kind words, I really appreciate them!

Second, I still can't see my photos on this thread (which is where they should be view-able), but on some of my devices (my iPhone, not my laptop), when I click on where they should be on this thread, I do get taken to my Photobucket account, where those photos can be seen, at least right now. Very strange, but I'm glad people have some access to them, thanks for pointing that out!

Your upcoming HAL cruise sounds wonderful. HAL definitely excels at interesting itineraries. (Now that HAL has banned smoking on balconies, we'll be going on our first HAL cruise this summer, and are really excited about it! At 20 days, it will also be our longest cruise to date.)

I don't have much more to suggest on shore excursions beyond what I've written on this thread. Our NCL excursion to Corinto was called "Colonial City of Leon." I really would try to see the Cathedral...

We did not use any GPS-based app on any of the tours, so unfortunately I can't help on that.

For Manzanillo, you might want to inquire over in the Mexican Riviera ports of call forum. Not having been there, I don't know whether the State Department's recent travel warnings about Colima embrace the area(s) frequented by cruise ship passengers, but I think you are certainly smart to look into this.

Ah, Puerto Chiapas... Maybe you want to stay on the ship that day? ;p (I really don't like to do that, though, if it's a port I've never been to...)

Thanks again for all the kind words, and I hope you have a very wonderful trip!!

Great review and pictures. We loved our cruise on the Jewel a couple years ago. My husband is interested in Panama and I'm leaning more towards Barcelona in December. We will be traveling with our 4 girls and are trying to decide what would be best for them. We know that you can't expect a lot of kids on a longer cruise but am curious as to how many were on yours. We are trying to decide between the cruise from Tampa to Panama, or the Spirt in Barcelona in December. Thank you.

Thank you so much for the kind words!

To answer your questions about kids on board -- the Restaurant Manager told us there were 17 passengers under the age of 21 on our Panama Canal cruise. I was not surprised by this -- any cruise of this length (16 nights), and with an itinerary like this, and not during the holidays, is going to skew toward the "senior" end of the spectrum. I suspect those kids all got treated very well in the kids' club, since there were so few of them! :D We saw almost all of them one evening as they marched around the ship in costumes.

Panama Canal v. Barcelona... very different, obviously! What are the two itineraries? How old are your girls?

Enjoyed your review.

I am puzzled by what to do in Puerto Chiapas...or maybe not do anything after reading your review. This will be our longest cruise to date (23 days) and has TWELVE ports!

Ah, Puerto Chiapas... Maybe you want to stay on the ship that day?

We were on the Sun in October from San Francisco to Miami. After reading this great review we decided to not do an excursion in Puerto Chiapas. But we only had 6 ports over the 15 days so did not want to stay on the ship all day. There are two structures at the port (and nothing else). We checked out the small souvenir shops and jade "museum". There were some local musicians playing as we entered. There is also an open air restaurant and bar. It has an in ground pool and nice landscaping.

First, thanks so much for reading the review and for all the kind words, I really appreciate them!

 

Second, I still can't see my photos on this thread (which is where they should be view-able), but on some of my devices (my iPhone, not my laptop), when I click on where they should be on this thread, I do get taken to my Photobucket account, where those photos can be seen, at least right now. Very strange, but I'm glad people have some access to them, thanks for pointing that out!

Earlier this afternoon I could see all of the photos on this review. Now they are all gone once again! Glad I got to see them when I did!!

We did not use any GPS-based app on any of the tours, so unfortunately I can't help on that.

The NCL shore excursion that we took was called "Antigua on Your Own." This was round trip transportation in large buses to Antigua, with a guide on the bus who provided information during the drive, and a good map. I'd also found some good walking tour maps here:

 

http://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-gu...igua-4994.html

We were on the Sun in October from San Francisco to Miami. After reading this great review we decided to not do an excursion in Puerto Chiapas. But we only had 6 ports over the 15 days so did not want to stay on the ship all day. There are two structures at the port (and nothing else). We checked out the small souvenir shops and jade "museum". There were some local musicians playing as we entered. There is also an open air restaurant and bar. It has an in ground pool and nice landscaping.

I will be doing Panama Canal in May on the NCL Bliss and have also decided not to do any excursions in Puerto Chiapas (have the Thermal Spa pass so hoping for a quiet day there). But I do plan to get off and check out the 'huts' and wondered if you knew whether they had wi-fi there and also what type of food in the restaurant (just looking for something like chips/salsa, Margarita while using the wi-fi, if any). Thanks!

And Turtles06...saw this review and beautiful photos when you first posted and still refer to it often. Thanks so much for the information.

I will be doing Panama Canal in May on the NCL Bliss and have also decided not to do any excursions in Puerto Chiapas (have the Thermal Spa pass so hoping for a quiet day there). But I do plan to get off and check out the 'huts' and wondered if you knew whether they had wi-fi there and also what type of food in the restaurant (just looking for something like chips/salsa, Margarita while using the wi-fi, if any). Thanks.

The Bliss will look like a high rise building in that tiny port. There were no huts at the port. The large building with a palapa style top had all the small shops inside. I didn’t try WiFi there.

The restaurant is a separate structure and a short walk away. A lot of people had chips and salsa - many were crew from the ship. There were margaritas, beers and drinks in coconuts. I used my AT&T Mexico WiFi at the restaurant.

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The Bliss will look like a high rise building in that tiny port. There were no huts at the port. The large building with a palapa style top had all the small shops inside. I didn’t try WiFi there.

 

The restaurant is a separate structure and a short walk away. A lot of people had chips and salsa - many were crew from the ship. There were margaritas, beers and drinks in coconuts. I used my AT&T Mexico WiFi at the restaurant.

 

 

 

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Thanks for the quick response. Thats just what I needed to know. [emoji106]

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Enjoyed your review.

Keith

Earlier this afternoon I could see all of the photos on this review. Now they are all gone once again! Glad I got to see them when I did!!

 

 

The link you posted was the app that I was referring to. Did you just use the free version or did you pay to upgrade to the full version?

Very bizarre on the photos!

I used that link only for the purpose of downloading walking tour maps before our trip. I tend not to want to have my phone out while I am walking around somewhere (although I can say now that I don't think it would have been a problem in Antigua). Sorry I can't be more helpful on that app!

I will be doing Panama Canal in May on the NCL Bliss and have also decided not to do any excursions in Puerto Chiapas (have the Thermal Spa pass so hoping for a quiet day there). But I do plan to get off and check out the 'huts' and wondered if you knew whether they had wi-fi there and also what type of food in the restaurant (just looking for something like chips/salsa, Margarita while using the wi-fi, if any). Thanks!

 

And Turtles06...saw this review and beautiful photos when you first posted and still refer to it often. Thanks so much for the information.

Thanks for reading this, and for the kind words! I see you have your answer about the buildings right at the dock. I thought I'd add some visuals (and I hope you have a great trip!):

Thanks for reading this, and for the kind words! I see you have your answer about the buildings right at the dock. I thought I'd add some visuals (and I hope you have a great trip!):

 

 

 

Love seeing your pictures again...wish I was as talented with a camera. One more quick question: I am doing the Antigua on Your Own thru NCL and have a reservation at the ChocoMuseo to make chocolate bars (did this in Tallinn last year and it was so much fun). Do you know how far this Museum is from where they drop you off? It doesnt look far on the map but we are sort of in a time crunch as our class begins at 11am. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Love seeing your pictures again...wish I was as talented with a camera. One more quick question: I am doing the Antigua on Your Own thru NCL and have a reservation at the ChocoMuseo to make chocolate bars (did this in Tallinn last year and it was so much fun). Do you know how far this Museum is from where they drop you off? It doesnt look far on the map but we are sort of in a time crunch as our class begins at 11am. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Thank you!

Everything in the tourist area of Antigua is very close. We were dropped off at the Jade Museum, and my guess is you will be as well (it's set up for this, with a ton of restrooms!). Google that, and you should find it on a street map of Antigua. The ChocoMuseo is a few blocks away. We got to Antigua about 10:15am iirc; I think you should be fine. We bought some nice chocolate at the Museum (how can you not? :D)

Have a wonderful time!